BALL, THOMAS, Rifleman, No. 41592, 15th (Service) Battn. The Royal Irish Rifles, s. of the late John Ball, of Ringstead; b. Ringstead, co. Northampton, 29 Dec. 1878; educ. Wesleyan Day Schools, Raunds; volunteered for active service, and enlisted in the Royal Irish Rifles 23 Oct. 1916; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was killed in action by the explosion of a shell, at Gullinghem, near Courtrai, 15 Oct. 1918. Buried there. The Chaplain (whose servant he had been) wrote: “I was very fond of your husband, and he was very good to me. He was a most upright man, and a man of good principles. We were good friends, and he went with me everywhere I went. One day we got into a very tight corner, where there was a lot of heavy shelling; we got out safely in the end, but during it all Tom never lost his nerve, and was as brave and steady as he could be. That incident showed me his worth.”
He m. at the Parish Church, Keystone, 1 Jan. 1901, Charlotte (London Road, Wollaston), dau. of Thomas Cade, and had three sons: Harold, Leonard and Rowland.
Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 5